Seaport inefficiencies blamed for pricey logistics
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar | The Archipelago | Fri, April 13 2012, 10:25 AM
Inefficient seaport services under the authority of state-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) IV have been blamed for the high cost of logistics in the eastern Indonesia regions.
“Ships, for example, moor too long at the port. This has to be addressed. The week-long moorings should be changed to three days, and three-day moorings to one day,” State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said on Wednesday.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of his two-day visit in Makassar, South Sulawesi, where he visited PT Pelindo IV and held a closed-door coordination meeting with the company’s management.
He also paid a visit to PT Industri Kapal Indonesia (PT IKI), and lectured at two private universities in the city.
Apart from Soekarno-Hatta Port in Makassar, Dahlan said, other seaports under PT Pelindo IV’s auspices were still far below international standards in terms of quality.
“This explains why they are not expanding. Their efficiency and productivity, similarly, are also low,” he said.
He said specific solutions had to be sought for each seaport, as each had its own specific problems. He said that some seaports had loading areas that were too small, others lacked equipment and others had limited storage space. “We have identified these one by one and have sought solutions.”
The minister said Kendari port in Southeast Sulawesi and Sorong port in Papua had insufficient storage space.
He said that to mitigate these issues, the Kendari port management had drawn up a plan to reclaim parts of the adjacent beach to secure more space, and that the Sorong port management would demolish its existing warehouses to free up more space for storage.
He added that inefficient unloading procedures wasted time and must be addressed.
“We will ask Bulog [Logistics Agency] to pack goods in containers but of course the seaports also have to be well equipped,” he said.
Another inefficiency, he continued, was that the seaports’ warehouses did not operate 24 hours a day.
He, therefore, expressed hope that in the future, warehouse managements could arrange more flexible schedules in order to expedite loading and unloading.
The peer at Soekarno-Hatta Port in Makassar, Pelindo, he said, would be lengthened by 150 meters to 1,510 meters.
The government has revised its investment budget to develop seaports in the eastern part of Indonesia from previously Rp 551 billion (US$60.05 million) to Rp 762 billion.
